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Turkish equities gain ahead of Sunday's vote
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South African rand hits new record low amid arms
allegations
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Ghana creditors close to granting financing assurances -
sources
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MSCI kicks two Adani cos from indexes
By Amruta Khandekar May 12 (Reuters) - Turkish equities edged higher on Friday, following a rally in the previous session as investors geared up for the weekend's tightly-contested presidential election, while the South African rand hit a new record low against the dollar. Turkey's main BIST-100 stock index was up 0.2% on the last day of trading before Sunday's vote. The index had closed nearly 8% higher on Thursday after Muharrem Ince, one of the four people contesting the election, announced his withdrawal from the race. Bank stocks gained 4.0%, while the lira was slightly weaker against the dollar. Ince's withdrawal was regarded as a potential boost to President Tayyip Erdogan's main rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who, according to a latest survey, was more than five percentage points ahead of Erdogan. ""If there are clear signs of a policy shift and potentially towards tighter monetary policy, we would see more optimism from investors. On the flip side, a run off second round vote for the presidency would really extend the process a bit longer and keep some uncertainty going," said James Wilson, EM sovereign strategist at ING. The South African rand hit a new all-time low against the dollar on Friday, extending steep losses from the previous day as worries about the country facing Western sanctions after allegations of arms shipments to Russia dented sentiment already hurt by a burgeoning power crisis.
JPMorgan in a research note on Friday said it now forecast a 0.2% decline in South Africa's 2023 gross domestic product versus a previous forecast for 0.3% growth, citing expectations for deeper power cuts. Meanwhile, concerns over China's slow economic recovery after a batch of weak data continued to weigh on the mood, sending broader EM stocks down 0.4%. The index fell for the fourth straight day and was set for weekly declines of nearly 1%. EM currencies were also subdued, down 0.2%. The Pakistani rupee stabilised on Friday, rising 4.4% after hitting an all-time low in the previous session. Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan arrived at an Islamabad court on Friday, a day after his arrest, which sparked deadly unrest in the nuclear-armed nation, was ruled "invalid and unlawful" by the Supreme Court.
In other news, index provider MSCI said on Thursday two Adani-group companies will not be eligible for its global indexes, while 86 securities will be added to and 39 deleted from its widely followed MSCI ACWI stock index, as part of its quarterly index review. Ghana's official creditors are poised to grant financing assurances as soon as Friday and form a committee co-chaired by France and China - key steps for the nation to secure a $3 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan, sources told Reuters.
For GRAPHIC on emerging market FX performance in 2023, see For GRAPHIC on MSCI emerging index performance in 2023, see For TOP NEWS across emerging markets For CENTRAL EUROPE market report, see For TURKISH market report, see For RUSSIAN market report, see (Reporting by Amruta Khandekar; Editing by Sonia Cheema)
